FX Renews The League

FX has picked up the freshman comedy series The League for a second season. The show will be expanded to 13 episodes next season (up from the six episodes that aired this season).

Ratings have been acceptable for a late-night comedy series and, for comparison purposes, its season one average of 1.09 million viewers and demo audiences of 880,000 Adults 18-49 and 680,000 Adults 18-34 represent gains of 18% in A18-49 and 62% in A18-34 versus the first season ratings of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Plus the show ended its season last night on a high note with 1.20 million total viewers and 963,000 A18-49, the series’ second-highest totals in those categories.

The press release follows after the jump.

FX COMEDY THE LEAGUE GOES THROUGH EXPANSION

Network Orders 13 Episodes for Season Two

The League’s Season One Finale Tomorrow Night at 10:30 PM E/P Follows Season Five Finale of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10:00 PM E/P

LOS ANGELES, December 9, 2009 FX’s freshman comedy The League has been picked up for a second season with an expanded order of 13 episodes from FX Productions, announced Nick Grad, Executive Vice President of Original Programming, FX Networks.

Season two is scheduled to return in late summer of 2010. The first season finale of The League airs tomorrow (Thursday, Dec. 10) at 10:30 PM ET/PT, immediately following the season five finale of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 10:00 PM.

“We’ve been very pleased with the creative and ratings trajectory of The League and believe it’s an excellent fit with our comedy brand,” said Grad. “Jackie and Jeff Schaffer are incredibly talented producers and the ensemble cast is fantastic. The performance of the show this season is reminiscent of Sunny in its first season.”

Set against the backdrop of a fantasy football league, The League is about friendship, marriage, parenting, and growing upor refusing to grow up. It was created by the husband-and-wife team of Jeff Schaffer (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld) and Jackie Marcus Schaffer (Disturbia, EuroTrip) who serve as executive producers. The ensemble features Mark Duplass, Stephen Rannazzisi, Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer, Katie Aselton and Jon Lajoie. The series is produced by FX Productions.

“This has been a wonderful experience for me and Jeff,” said Jackie Marcus Schaffer. “Our cast Mark, Steve, Nick, Paul, Katie and Jon is made up of some of the most talented young actor-comedians in the business. So much of the credit goes to them.”

Jeff Schaffer added, “FX has been like the coolest girlfriend you could ever have. They get us, laugh at our jokes, and love hearing us talk about football. It’s a perfect relationship – and we look forward to going steady with them for a long time.”

Episode five of The League (12/3) was the second highest-rated of the season, ahead of the premiere and behind episode two. Through five episodes, the series is averaging 1.06 million viewers and 863,000 Adults 18-49. Compared to year ago time period, The League has grown +44% among Adults 18-49, +65% in Adults 18-34, and +107% in Men 18-34. The delivery of Adults 18-34 (680,000) are +61% higher than the first season of Sunny (419,000), and +16% more in Adults 18-49 (Sunny season one, 747,000).

In tomorrow’s season finale of The League (10:30 PM), “The Shiva Bowl,” perennial league champion Pete (Duplass) battles it out with perennial loser Andre (Paul Scheer) in the fantasy league title game. The guys try to hide the Shiva Trophy from their high school classmate – the actual Shiva. Taco (Jon Lajoie) finally gets a “real person job.” The episode was written by Jeff Schaffer & Jackie Marcus Schaffer and directed by Jeff Schaffer.

Leading into The League finale tomorrow at 10:00 PM is the fifth season finale of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In “The Gang Reignites The Rivalry,” the Paddy’s team is once again eligible to compete in Flipadelphia a city wide flip cup tournament following their ten-year ban. Now all they have to do is instigate their old rivals, who have since grown up, to enter to competition. The episode was written by Dave Chernin & Charlie Day and directed by Randall Einhorn.

FX is raising the stakes in comedy. In addition It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The League, the network will debut the new animated series Archer on Thursday, January 14 at 10:00 PM ET/PT, and Louie, starring stand-up comedian/actor Louis C.K. in the spring. FX has ordered ten episodes of Archer and 13 of Louie. FX previously ordered seasons six and seven of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, with season six scheduled to launch next summer.

FX is the flagship general entertainment basic cable network from the Fox Networks Group. Launched in June of 1994, FX is carried in more than 96 million homes. The diverse schedule includes a growing roster of critically acclaimed and award-winning original series; an established film library with box-office hits from 20th Century Fox and other studios; and an impressive roster of acquired hit series. For more information about FX, visit our web site at www.FXnetworks.com.